In case you hadn’t heard, Thanksgiving is just barely over a week away. Cue panic. Do you have your Turkey and fixings yet? Have you made your menu? Do you know where your roaster and essential Thanksgiving day gadgets are? Maybe something important broke or was misplaced in the last year and you need to replace it? Hey… it happens. I’m not even hosting Thanksgiving and the stress of the week is already setting in. The Mr will be gone on business for a few days and then our oldest is on vacation for a whopping five days. What happened to going to school the day before Thanksgiving?

So… on top of normal day to day business, keeping up with blogging business and temporarily single parenting to three… I need to whip up three amazing desserts to bring to our family feast. I’m planning on apple pie and pumpkin pie… classics that clearly need representation. It was honestly between pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pie, the pie won out and honestly I didn’t care which one won because I only have eyes for the apple pie. And the third is a special birthday cake for my older brother. I just now realized that my oldest can go to him with holiday birthday complaints when she’s older. While his birthday may not always fall on Thanksgiving, it does occasionally. Hers unfortunately is always on a holiday but quite possibly the most festive holidays of them all. It’s still a curse in a way. Do you have a holiday birthday?

So whether you have your menu planned or not, I figure there’s always room to sneak in a new dish or two. I’ve compiled a list of some fantastic, and mostly seasonal, recipes you should definitely consider adding to your menu. I’ve even added a section at the end to cover the day or days after. Because maybe you don’t want to eat turkey for days on end. Or maybe you want a toss and go recipe since you’re planning on joining the crowds for black Friday. Or maybe you do love turkey leftovers but just want a new twist. Whatever the case… I’ve got you covered.

I promise to work on some new sides and appetizers for next year but it’s truly hard to resist the desserts.

Appetizers and Sides:
Sausage and red pepper stuffed mushrooms
Spicy stuffed mushrooms
Buffalo chicken deviled eggs
Potato and leek soup
Havarti mac n cheese
Homemade bread stuffing
Slow cooker cinnamon applesauce
Potatoes au gratin
Parmesan scalloped potato stacks
Creamy garlic mashed potatoes

Bread:
Cheese and herb monkey bread
Garlic knots
Clover rolls
Buttermilk cornbread
Cheddar and bacon puff pastry sticks
Garlic monkey bread
Spicy Italian focaccia

Desserts:
Apple pecan cheesecake
Apple crisp
Apple crumb pie
Apple pie squares
Apple snickerdoodle cobbler
Apple slab pie
German apple pie
Mini pumpkin cheesecakes with gingersnap crust
Pumpkin mousse parfaits
Pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies
Pumpkin spice cookies
Jamaican spiced pumpkin pie
Pumpkin cheesecake
Pumpkin gingerbread trifle
Pumpkin oatmeal cookies
Cranberry-orange pinwheels
Pecan pie cookies
Apple cranberry
Jumbo dark chocolate chunk cranberry oatmeal cookies
Cranberry swirl cookies
Pecan cherry thumbprint cookies


Leftovers and the Day After:
Turkey enchiladas
Turkey and potato soup
Spinach and mushroom lasagna rolls
Classic lasagna
Slow cooker Italian wedding soup
Slow cooker chicken tortilla soup
Slow cooker meatball minestrone soup
Slow cooker two bean spicy chili
Slow cooker New England clam chowder
Slow cooker white chicken chili